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Mexican lasagna is the gooey, easy dinner of golden-era Hollywood

The power of celebrity is odd. Anything a famous person touches automatically becomes an object of desire for the masses, including food. In George Geary’s recently released history-slash-cookbook, L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants, he details the buzziest spots where all the big entertainers ate (thus, where everyone else wanted to eat, too) during Hollywood’s golden era in the mid-20th century (think Mad Men). The book also has recipes for celebrities’ favourite restaurant dishes, though in hindsight most of the stars were probably so hungry while subsisting on a studio-mandated diet that I can imagine Judy Garland stabbing someone for a scrap of her favourite fried chicken.

Still, Geary, an L.A.-based culinary instructor who previously cooked for Disney and made cheesecakes on the set of The Golden Girls, clearly has a love for the bygone era of his hometown. Geary spent the last four years digging up trivia, timelines and recipes from 43 restaurants that fed the rich and famous, and provided a snapshot of California cuisine at that moment. He could have just made this into a novelty book of aspic moulds and mayonnaise-induced nightmares (OK, there’s one or two of those in here, such as the coconut-chicken salad with a mayo-curry dressing served in a cantaloupe) but most of the dishes hold up for 21st-century palates.

The Book:L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants: Celebrating the Famous Places Where Hollywood Ate, Drank, and Played ($65.50, Santa Monica Press) contains more than 100 recipes and tons of archival photos of restaurant interiors, menus, advertisements and famous clientele such as Lucille Ball and Rock Hudson. There are also write-ups of the places (notable spots include Trader Vic’s, The Brown Derby, Spago and La Scala) and include tiki bars, tea rooms, Chinese-American joints, fine-dining French and drive-ins. As a result, the recipes (drinks, apps, mains, sides and desserts) run the gamut of mid-century American culinary kitsch.

The Quote: (On Schwab’s Pharmacy, a soda shop on Sunset Boulevard that was close to all the movie studios). “On weekend evenings in the 1950s, the sidewalk in front of the pharmacy was filled with customers six deep, standing around with a soda or a malt . . . In the early days, you could run into Orson Welles, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, the Marx Brothers, Marilyn Monroe and Ronald Reagan there. Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky set up an office in one of the booths on the premises to stay close to the action.”

The Tester: I have a shelf of wacky-tacky vintage recipe books dedicated to aspic mains and random processed food that companies tried to shoehorn into every meal. I always wanted to make these dishes, but I never got the guts (and I’m pretty sure I’d lose them if I ate it).

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Recipes I’m Dying to Make: Coconut Cream Pie (classic), Thousand Island Dressing (my parents’ favourite), Cappuccino Soufflé (epitome of French fanciness at the time), Mai Tai (gotta get one tiki drink in there), Cantonese Chicken Salad (intriguing, even if this isn’t, in the words of comedian Margaret Cho, the salad of my people).

Mexican Lasagna

This casserole is straightforward by today’s standards (make this for taco night to make the kids happy), but in ’50s and ’70s, Mexican and Italian cuisine were still considered “exotic” by much of white America. Even then, the level of Mexican and Italian food at the time was more akin to the Tex-Mex and “Eye-talian” red sauce variety.

This recipe is from Lawry’s California Center, an L.A. restaurant that operated from 1953 till 1992 and was part of the Lawry’s restaurant and spice empire (Lawry’s seasoned salt continues to be sold at supermarkets). I added onion, garlic and fresh oregano for more flavour, then baked the lasagna in a loaf pan rather than a 9-by-13-inch baking dish to get that desired sky-high layered look. If you don’t want beef, substitute with ground turkey instead.

1-1/2 lbs (700 g) lean ground beef

1 cup (250 mL) finely chopped onion

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2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp (45 mL) taco seasoning

1/2 tsp (2 mL) seasoned salt

1 large tomato, diced

2 cups (500 mL) tomato sauce

2 to 4 green chilies, diced

Black pepper, to taste

2 large eggs

1 cup (250 mL) ricotta

12 6-inch corn tortillas, sliced in half

2-1/2 cups (675 mL) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté beef until browned. Drain off any excess fat. Add onion and garlic. Sauté till fragrant and onions begin to soften. Add taco seasoning, seasoned salt, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chilies. Stir, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of tomato sauce has cooked off. Add black pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk eggs. Stir in ricotta until smooth and well combined. Set aside.

In a loaf pan, spread half of meat mixture on bottom of pan. Arrange 12 tortilla halves on top in two layers. Spread half of ricotta mixture on top of tortillas. Sprinkle half of cheese on top. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

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